


I Will Be Your Wine

by liionne



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: 1940s/50s, F/M, Halloween, Inspired by Corpse Bride (2005), M/M, Pre-Serum Steve Rogers, and minor homophobia, and suicide, obviously mentions of death, so hold onto your hats, this is also a stop-whistle tour of corpse bride
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-30
Updated: 2017-10-30
Packaged: 2019-01-26 21:47:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,064
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12566916
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/liionne/pseuds/liionne
Summary: Steve swallows thickly. "So you guys are...""Dead." James nods. "Uh huh."Steve feels like he could faint again, but he manages to hold himself upright. "How did I get here?""I brought you here." James smiles. "We're married, I figured we should be together. And I can't exactly live up there, so...""We're married?" Steve squeaks. Oh, this isn't going well.





	I Will Be Your Wine

**Author's Note:**

> So I watched Corpse Bride yesterday and I was so inspired I wrote this in about... eight hours? Compared to how long I normally take, that's nothing! Like I mentioned in the tags it's a very fast ride through the story, but I hope everyone enjoys it. Any spelling and grammatical errors are completely my fault, and do feel free to tell me about them!

Peggy is a foot taller than him, and looks a hell of a lot stronger than him, but she smiles as if she likes him. That's good. Steve likes her, see.

Or he thinks he does. He wasn't sure what to expect from a woman he was meant to marry within 24 hours of meeting, but he's been pleasantly surprised 

"With this hand," he raises his hand shakily, clears his throat. Peggy gives him a soft, encouraging smile. Her parents, just visible over her shoulder, glare at him. "I lift your-- your, uh--"

"Sorrows." The priest sighs.

"Right." Steve clears his throat. "Your sorrows." He nods. Again, Peggy smiles. "Your cup will never be empty, for I will be--" He reaches for the gold chalice sitting on the table, and manages to knock it over. Peggy grabs it before it can go rolling off the table, and sets it right. Her father groans.

Steve stumbles through the rest of his vows, glad that they're not the real thing. When Peggy's parents and their staff retire to the parlour for tea and cakes, Steve finds himself sitting at the piano, staring down at the keys.

"Do you play?"

Peggy's voice echoes around the silent foyer, her heels clipping against the marble. Her house is old, one of those ridiculously big old houses built in the 1800s that seemed to fall apart a little more every winter. It's cold, but Peggy is warm as she sits down beside him, carefully rearranging the hem of her skirt.

"I do. Or, I did." Steve stretches out his fingers, long and slim - artist's fingers more than musician's, but his mother always liked the idea of him playing, so Steve had gone along with it. He gives Peggy a small smile. "It's been a long time, and the cold makes my fingers stiff."

Peggy gave a small nod. "My mother won't let me play." She says. "I have to wait until she's out of the house to get any practice in."

Steve smiles at that, his lips inching upwards into a smile. He likes Peggy, and he knows he does. He thinks they'd be good friends, if given half a chance. He might like to be something more.

"Are you ready for tomorrow?"

Steve blinks, not expecting the question. He looks at Peggy, his mouth opening, and closing, opening and closing. He closes it, finally, with a snap. Peggy smiles.

"I feel the same way."

A door opens down the hallway, and heels clip along the marble floor. Mrs Carter gasps. "You two should _not_  be alone before the wedding! Come now, Margaret. Your tea is going cold."

Peggy shoots Steve a look, as if they're co-conspirators. He likes that feeling. He gives her a gentle smile, and listens to the two of them return to the other room before he gets up. He has to go out. The outside is just as cold as the inside today, so he may as well get some fresh air.

~*~

Steve has never seen this side of New York before.

He's used to high-rise red bricks and yellow taxi cabs. He's used to people shouting on the street, dock works drunkenly singing in the night and girls standing on street corners, hiking their skirts up as he passes. The suburbs are... quiet. And as the night settles in, that quiet begins to unsettle him.

So he looks for a natural source of it; the silence will not feel so strange in the forest. He takes off his tie and settles it in his pocket, though he leaves the top button of his shirt done up - it's far too cold not to. He pulls his coat around himself, fingertips turning blue as they grip his sleeves.

"With this cup, I will lift your overflowing-- no, with this hand, I will lift your-- jeez, I'll-- sorrows! I'll lift your sorrows, and--"

His voice is the only sound, other than the branches that break underfoot. He's never going to get these vows memorized before tomorrow, how can he? He's no genius, and the words are all so similar. All that talk of hands and cups and candles and rings.

He finds himself in a small clearing, and he takes a deep breath. He still has the ring for tomorrow nestled in his pocket, and he pulls it out with half-frozen fingertips.

"Mrs Carter, you're looking great today, did you get your hair done?" He addresses a tree branch, turning next to address the shrub beside it. They look startling similar to the real thing. "Mr Carter, your recovery from the market crash has been amazing, however did you do it?"

He turns, standing up straight. "Peggy," He addresses a tree this time, imagining her as best he could. "With this hand, I will lift your sorrows." He lifts his hand, and grabs a half-frozen snowdrop, turning the flower upside down. "Your cup will never be empty, for I will be your wine." he tosses it away again, instead picking up a dried twig. "With this candle, I will light your way into the darkness." He tosses that aside too, and holds the ring carefully. He sets it onto one of the gnarled twigs, extending out from a fall tree branch. "With this ring, I ask you to be mine."

He did it. Steve blinks, and half turns, looking around him. He remembered his vows. He remembered them! He--

There's a rustling behind him, twigs snapping and roots being pulled up. He turns back to where he had once been, and his eyes find a man, stood in the half-dark. His face is pale beneath the officer's uniform he wears, eyes ringed with black, and his left arm - the hand of which is sporting Steve's ring - is entirely bone.

"I will." He responds, giving Steve a crooked grin.

Steve doesn't see much more before he blacks out.

~*~

"I dunno, Tash, I think he fainted-- people do that, right? Living people. It's been a while, so-- he's waking up!"

Steve blinks his eyes open slowly. The room he's in is dark, lit by orange-glowing lamps. He looks around, and early smacks his head on--

That guy. The guy wearing his ring. The _dead_  guy.

Steve looks at him owlishly. His right hand, which is still covered in pale flesh, settles on his knee. It's freezing even through his trousers. "How're you feeling?"

"I'm..." Steve looks around. He's in a bar, of some sort. Everyone seems to be half decayed, even though they're all sitting around drinking and laughing, having a good time. "Dreaming. I'm dreaming, I have to be--"

The woman Steve assumes to be Tash rolls her eyes. Or one of them, anyway. She only seems to have the one.

"Calm him down, James, he'll make a scene."

"You're not going to make a scene, are you?" That cold hand squeezes him slightly, and Steve startles, looking to the other. He looks like he was handsome, before he - before he _died_. Oh, hell.

"A scene? I'm--"

"I'll get him something to drink." Natasha sighs, standing up. Her bones creak as she goes.

James smiles. "I'm sorry about her. She wasn't big on the living even when she was a part of them."

"The living?" Steve asks. His voice sounds squeaky.

"Yeah." James nods. "Y'know. You guys. Up there."

He points one bony finger at the ceiling, and Steve swallows thickly. "So you guys are..."

"Dead." James nods. "Uh huh."

Steve feels like he could faint again, but he manages to hold himself upright. "How did I get here?"

"I brought you here." James smiles. "We're married, I figured we should be together. And I can't exactly live up there, so..."

"We're married?" Steve squeaks. Oh, this isn't going well.

"Hey, you said the vows, pal." James says, and he grins as though it's a joke. "I just said yes."

"I said the vows." Steve murmurs. "I - I said them?"

"Yeah." James says slowly. Tash returns, and James looks to her. "I think he might have hit his head on the way down, his conversational skills are--"

"You can't be dead." Steve interrupts. Three eyes turn to look at him. "You can't all be dead, that's crazy. That's nuts. That's--"

"The truth." Tash says. She spits at the ground. "Welcome to the Land of the Dead. Here's your water."

She hands him a grimy cup full of water, which looks a little... off. He sets it down to one side, but murmurs a thank you.

"The Land of the Dead?" He asks.

James nods. "It's where all those with unfinished business go. Y'know. Before they can move on."

"Unfinished business?" Steve asks again. He knows how annoying he must sound, but he honestly doesn't give a shit. He has no idea what's going on.

"Mm. Natasha's husband was taken away from her, and she was left to starve to death. She has to find him before she can move on." James says.

Natasha grimaces, folding her arms over her half-exposed rib cage. "James was murdered on the night he eloped. With a _man_."

"Well I think he knows I'm gay, Tash, I married him."

"I'm just saying, maybe if you hadn't stumbled into what was _obviously_ a trap--"

"It wasn't a trap, we loved each other! You're just bitter, at least I had a husband--"

"No you didn't! You had a boyfriend for half a minute--"

"I have to go." Steve murmurs, standing up. He had been sitting on what looks like half a coffin, but he tries not to think about it. He stumbles forward, and James and Natasha stop their squabbling to look at him.

All Steve can think about is Peggy. Peggy, six feet above him (probably a lot more than that, but it would be a funny joke, if anyone else was around to listen), who's supposed to be marrying him in the morning.

"I have to get out of here." He starts walking forward, but then a skeletal hand curls around his own.

"You can't go. We're married now."

Natasha snorts, but James looks deadly serious when Steve turns to look at him. Deadly. Ha.

"James," Steve says slowly, taking his hand away as gently as he can.

"Oh, call me Bucky." James smiles, setting his hands in his pockets.

"Bucky." Steve tries again, taking a deep breath. "We aren't really married. I have to go, I have a life, up there--"

"Of course we're really married." Bucky frowns. "And you should've thought of that before you said your vows."

"I didn't mean that." Steve shakes his head. "I didn't, it wasn't serious--"

"Well it was serious to me." Bucky scowls now, and his eyes look even darker than they did before. "You asked me to be yours and I said yes, so there."

"But there's more to it than that." Steve sighs. "You meet the parents and see a priest and--"

"Well, we can do all that." Bucky shrugs, but he's still angry, Steve can see it. "We can get a priest, there'll be one around here somewhere--"

A lightbulb, flashing over Steve's head. He steps towards Bucky. "But I would really like you to see my parents. To meet them, I mean. And there's a priest in New York, he'd be happy to marry us, I've heard he marries... guys like us... in secret. Nothing official, obviously, but - good enough."

Bucky's brows lift slowly, the anger draining out of him. Steve takes his had gently. "If we could get up to the surface, we could get it all sorted out."

Bucky hums softly, as if in thought. He nods. "Okay." He says. "I think I know a way to get us up there."

~*~

Bucky leads them up a spiral staircase and into what appears to be a library, or perhaps a workshop. It's dark, but Steve's eyes are beginning to adjust, and when he looks around he sees various books lying around, candles half-burned and vials littering the worktops.

"Dr Erskine?" Bucky asks, standing in the middle of the cold stone floor. Steve looks around as a skull pops up from behind a large desk at one end of the room. He doesn't know how, but he swears it looks at him first, and then Bucky.

"Mr. Barnes." he says, learning bony elbows on top of the desk. Literal bone - there's no flesh at all covering his bones, a few tufts of hair above where his ears would be the only sign that he ever did have skin.

"Oh, actually its--" Bucky smiles, but then he pauses, looking to Steve. "What did you say your last name was?"

"I didn't." Steve sighs softly. Still, he can feel everyone looking at him, so he straightens up a little. "Rogers."

"Oh, I like that." Bucky nods. "It's Mr. Rogers now, Doc."

"Is that so?" Erskine asks. He has a hint of a German accent, and Steve doesn't know why that shocks him. Maybe the Land of the Dead doesn't have borders like the Land of the Living does.

"Mm hm." Bucky nods again, excited. "His vows were great. Really well said. Eloquent."

Steve blinks, and looks to Bucky. "Thanks." He says, genuinely touched. He thought he'd done quite well too.

Shame he hadn't done so well earlier. If he had, maybe he wouldn't be married to a god damn _corpse_.

Bucky's smiling at him softly, kind of sweetly. If he'd been alive, it probably would've knocked Steve for six, but the fact that Steve could see the bones of his entire left arm was kind of off-putting.

"We're going to the surface. To meet my parents." Steve says. "To make it all... official." He says. Bucky beams, reaching out to take Steve's hand.

"You think they'll approve?" Erskine asks, with a tone that suggests a raised eyebrow.

Steve smiles wanly. "They're very liberal."

And very dead, but never mind.

"Well, I do have a way to get to the surface." Erskine nods, hopping down from behind the desk. It turns out that he's quite a small man, his spine curved round to make him even smaller, and he uses what seems to be the bone from his right upper arm as a walking stick. When he reaches the desk in front of them - where his right forearm is - he clicks it back into place, connecting the joints until he can pick up one of the books laid out.

"It's an incantation I learned many years ago, in Bavaria." Erskine nods. "A spell that will send you up the Land of the Living for as long as you require. When you wish to come back, simply say the word."

Bucky looks to Steve, and then to Erskine, who seems to be looking through his book. "What word, Doc?"

"Hm? Oh!" Erskine says, looking up. "Hopscotch." He nods, and then begins to launch into a series of words in a language Steve doesn't understand, and doesn't think he will ever learn. A plume of thick red smoke envelopes them, and Bucky clings a little more tightly to Steve's hand as they're transported to the mortal world.

~*~

Steve doesn't know how long its been. Does time work differently in the Land of the Dead? He hopes not. He sits Bucky down on criss-cross of fallen branches that have formed a pretty handy bench, and he smiles softly.

"Okay," He begins. "You wait here, I'll - I'll go get my parents, and bring them here to see you. You can't walk through town, because..."

"I'm dead?" Bucky offers.

Steve's stomach twists, but he nods. "Right. I won't be long."

He turns on his heel, but Bucky catches his hand with his own, skeletal one. Steve looks down, horrified, and Bucky pulls his hand back too quickly, pulling it to his chest as if he's horrified too. It throws him for a minute, his mouth moving but no sound coming out. In the end, he recovers, and gives a thin-looking smile. "A goodbye kiss?"

Steve swallows thickly, and leans in to peck Bucky's cold, clammy cheek. "Back in a minute."

Bucky nods, and Steve tries his best not to break into a sprint as he goes.

~*~

"If I ever see that horrid little man again I'll have him strung from the rafters! Abandoning our daughter like that--"

So, Steve isn't using the main entrance.

He had crept up to Peggy's house hoping to be able to just waltz in the front door and explain himself, but of course he should have known it was too good to be true. Of course they were angry, he had disappeared, and now it was night time and he hadn't exactly come back.

But he has to speak to Peggy. He feels that if anyone'll understand, it's Peggy.

Climbing up the drainpipe outside her window may well be the most difficult thing Steve's ever done, but he's determined. He has to get to Peggy, so he can tell her what's going on, and she rescue him from being married to a god damn _corpse_ for the rest of his life.

Or eternity, he supposes, seeing as he'll be married to Bucky in death, too.

He taps lightly on the glass, breathing heavily and sweating despite the cold outside. Peggy turns around, looking up from the book she'd been reading, and her dark eyes blow wide. "Steve!"

She hurries to let him in, wrapping a blanket around him. He clutches her upper arms, and does his best to breath evenly.

"In the woods-- practising my vows, I-- accidentally, I didn't mean for-- It was all a big--"

"Steve, slow down." Peggy instructs him, her hands settling on his shoulders. "Take a breath. What's wrong?"

"I married a corpse!" Steve yells, and then claps a hand over his mouth.

Peggy blinks. "You... what?"

"I-- I accidentally... married a corpse." Steve says.

Peggy looks at him curiously. "Steve, if this is a joke--"

"It isn't! It isn't a joke, it's--"

There's a crackle of thunder outside, a flash of lightning lighting up the room. Peggy gasps, and Steve turns around to see Bucky standing at the window, a face like thunder.

"Steve?" He pushes open the windows, and they fall easily, the glass in one pane cracking. "What're you doing? Who's--"

He looks between the two of them, sees how they're holding on to one another, and his eyes darken further.

"A corpse." Peggy murmurs.

"We naming what we see? How's about a hussy." Bucky spits. Steve blinks. Oh, hell.

Bucky reaches forward, grabbing Steve tightly by his upper arm. He narrows his eyes at Peggy. "Hopscotch." He growls, that thick cloud of smoke returning to envelope them both, dragging them back down to the underworld.

~*~

"You left me alone in the woods so you could go and see that woman!?" Bucky cries, arms folded over his chest. Steve's noticed that he keeps his left tucked in close to his body, hidden from sight. His officers uniform is mostly intact, only a little bit tattered, so it's easily hidden from view.

Steve had been so close. He hopes that Peggy believes him. She has to, hasn't she? Steve disappeared right in front of her very eyes. A corpse came and spirited him away. She has to believe him. She has to come and find him.

How she'll do that Steve doesn't know, but he has hope.

"I can't believe you. Seeing another woman!" Bucky snaps. His voice sounds wobbly, like he might be about to cry.

"Well, technically, you're the other woman." Steve says. "Man." He corrects himself, frowning.

"I'm your husband, that makes _her_  the other woman." Bucky scowls.

Natasha, sitting just behind him, shrugs her shoulders. "He has a point."

"But this isn't--" Steve sighs softly. "This isn't real. Don't you see that? It's not - none of it is real, you're _dead_ , we can't be married--"

"So that's how it is." Bucky murmurs. He straightens up, lets his arms fall to his side, and Steve sighs softly. "Fine."

He turns around, walking to the edge of the street and turning the corner, disappearing from view. When Steve looks up, Natasha is stood in front of him, and for a moment it startles him. He hadn't even heard her get up.

"For the record," She says. "I think this is as stupid as you do. But all he's ever wanted is to get married, and he never did want a woman. If you'd been alive when he was alive, would you have gone out with him?"

"I, um--"

"It's a yes or no question, Steve."

Steve pauses. Sometimes when the light catches Bucky he can imagine how he used to be handsome. His uniform is a little too big for him, his frame no longer filling it out now that the majority of the muscle has wasted away, but he can appreciate that he was probably once very tall, muscular, in a lean kind of way. He's a charming guy. He probably would have been a good friend. The type Steve would inevitably develop a crush on.

"Yeah." He murmurs, looking down at his shoes.

Natasha nods. "All James wants is to be loved. He did love someone once, and it killed him. Literally. I don't know if he could take it again."

"What happened?" Steve asks, looking up at her. "I mean - he eloped? But how does that lead to..."

He lifts his left arm, and Natasha's lips purse. "He was pushed down a ravine. His boyfriend, fiancé, I guess, told him to wait for him at the edge of the forest. Had Bucky sign away his possessions to him first, of course, and then pushed him. Left him for dead."

It makes Steve's stomach twist to hear about it. He wonders if he read about it, if it was anywhere local enough for him to know about it. Probably not. He feels like he'd remember a story like that.

He wonders if anyone knew. If Bucky's body was ever found.

"New arrival! New arrival!"

The people in the tavern at the end of the street began to scurry around and shout, whooping as they welcome a new ghoul into the fold. Natasha turns, and she looks to Steve. "Give him a little while to sulk, then go find him." She says, walking off in the opposite direction. Steve gives a little nod, and moves to the tavern. He wants to see what's going on.

 

~*~

 

There's a crowd gathered around what appears to be a woman, her skin pale, almost blue, her hair loosely tied back in a bun. She seems to be shaking a little bit, but she looks up when the door opens.

"Steve!?"

"Angie!?"

Angie Martinelli, one of Peggy's mother's servants, looks at Steve with wide eyes. "What are you doing here?" She squeaks.

"What are _you_  doing here?" He counters. "I saw you yesterday and you were fine!"

"So were you!" She argues. "You didn't--" Her eyes blow wide.

"What? No!" Kill himself. He didn't kill himself. She gives a relieved sounding sigh. "No, I'm alive. I'm just - I have an... engagement."

Angie looks puzzled, but she doesn't press. Steve, however, does. "But what about you? You didn't--"

She shakes her head. God, no. I'm 24! I got flu a few months back and I never shook it. Started coughing up blood a few days ago, so I think maybe it wasn't flu, especially seeing as I'm..."

"Dead." One of the patrons’ chimes in. Angie sags a little.

Steve chews his lip. "Did you see Peggy before you... went?" He asks.

She gives a little nod. "Mm."

"How is she?" He asks softly.

"Oh, she's gone mad. She keeps telling everyone you're married to a--" Angie stops, and narrows her eyes. "Are you married to a corpse?"

"Yes." Steve says, waving a hand in a dismissive sort of way. "We can talk about it later. They think she's gone mad?"

"Yeah. She's marrying Johann Schmidt in a few hours, her parents hope it'll calm her down." Angie nods.

"She's - what?" Steve's heart sinks in his chest, and he looks at Angie, hurt in his eyes.

"Oh, they didn't want to waste a wedding, and Schmidt's a good catch, y'know. Funny accent but he's kinda handsome, and rich too." Angie says. Someone hands her a drink, and she seems to perk up a little, so Steve moves away, out of the tavern.

How could she? Peggy, marrying someone else without even trying to get him out of here. Angie had said she had gone mad, or seemed to, but Peggy's smart. She's a smart girl, Steve knows it, and yet--

 

He sighs, leaning against a door and trying to catch his breath. In the ensuing quiet he hears the clatter of pots and pans, and he frowns, turning a little to look. It's someone's kitchen, and through the crack in the door Steve can see Bucky. He's sitting with some people Steve doesn't know, running his flesh-covered fingertip over the table top.

"Are all men like that? Propose even when they don't mean it, hurt your feelings for the sake of it?"

"Can't live with men can't live without them." And old woman croaks, moving between the table and a pot bubbling over a fire. "Who would open jars if we had no men?"

Bucky sighs, opens his mouth to speak again but he's interrupted by Erskine, who come shuffling in with a book. "Mr. Barnes, er, Rogers, there's been a... complication."

"A complication?" Bucky frowns. "With what?"

"Your marriage." Erskine says gravely. Steve's breath catches in his throat. "Your vows are binding until death to you part." Erskine continues. "And one of you is already dead."

Already dead. The vows were nullified before they were even finished. Steve's heart jumps into his throat.

Bucky gasps. "But - oh, god." He groans. "If he knows that he'll never stay. He's going to leave, he'll leave me--"

Natasha appears out of the shadow behind Erskine, her lips pursed. "Unless you make him stay."

Bucky snorts softly. His voice is thick with tears. "Oh, sure. Like I can convince him."

Erskine shakes his head, and puts the book down in front of Bucky. Steve can't see what it is that his bony finger points at, but it makes Bucky recoil in horror.

"Poison!?"

Steve stumbles away from the door. Oh no, oh god no--

"I couldn't do that to him. No. I'm not going to poison him." Bucky pushes the book away, and he wipes hastily at his eyes with his right hand. "He'll just have to go. And I'll be alone. Again."

He looks so crestfallen, so heart broken. Steve backs away from the door slowly, and begins to wander the streets. He wants to return to his home, but what's there for him now? His parents have been dead for years, and he doesn't have any friends. Money, sure, but no friends. Peggy's marrying another man. There's nothing left for him in the Land of the Living.

And yes, the Land of the Dead terrifies him, but would it terrify him so much if he were a part of it? Would he hate it so much? Bucky's good looking, by corpse standards. Better than Steve could do if he were to go back up.

And it would make Bucky happy. Bucky, who's been nothing but good to Steve since he accidentally proposed to him. Bucky, who just wants to be loved.

He doesn't know how long he walks around for before he ends up back in the tavern. It's fallen quiet now, only a few heaps of bones lying around. Steve can see Bucky, sitting at the piano. His right-hand rests on the keys, his left in his lap. Steve approaches him, and sits down.

The Land of the Dead is strangely warm. Not too warm, not enough for it to be noticeable, but enough for Steve's fingers not to feel so stiff. He plays a few odd notes, and looks at Bucky, smiling softly. Bucky looks at the keys. Steve lays a few more notes, and looks again. Nothing. He sets both hands down on his end of the piano, and begins to play.

He isn't sure what the song is, but it's one he learned when he was very young, that has stuck with him his entire life. His fingers caress the keys, and his lips turn up into a smile when Bucky begins to play as well, using both hands to complete the duet. After a second, Steve reaches out to take his hand. The music abruptly stops.

"You don't have to do it to me." Steve murmurs. "Don't have to ask me either. I'll do it."

Bucky studies him intently, and then he drops his gaze to their hands, nestled together on the keys. "You'll stay?"

Steve gives a little nod. The thought of death, his own death, frightens him, but the smile that stretches across Bucky's ghostly face makes him feel a little bit better 

"Let's have a proper wedding, shall we?" Steve murmurs. Bucky grins, tugging him to his feet.

 

~*~

 

They gather the wedding guests, and someone makes a cake. He's given a proper suit, and when everyone's ready the procession makes its way up to the mortal world.

It's night by the time they get there - it's been a full day since Steve ended up in the Land of the Dead, longer, even. Peggy's probably on her honeymoon. Steve looks up at her window as they pass, but he forces himself to look away. It doesn't matter now.

They follow the path to the church, and Erskine stands at the altar. Before they go in, Bucky takes his ring off, and he hands it over to Steve with a small smile. "I can live without it for now."

Steve grins a little, and heads inside.

He never thought he would get married at all. Now he's getting married to a corpse, and as he turns to watch Bucky walk down the aisle, he finds he's strangely okay with it.

Bucky joins him at the altar, and Steve gives a small smile. "With this hand, I will lift your sorrows." He says, meet Bucky's gaze steadily. He reaches for the chalice on the alter, and lifts it. The metal is cold to the touch. "Your cup will never be empty, for I will be your wine."

He looks to Bucky, who carefully raises his hand. It's his left, and the bone clinks against the glass bottle of poison he picks up, but for all the times he's tried to hide his left hand he doesn't even seem to notice now. "With this hand, I will lift your sorrows." He repeats. "Your cup will never be empty, for I--"

He stops abruptly, his fingers on the cork of the bottle. He blinks, looking at something over Steve's shoulder. He swallows thickly, and smiles at Steve. "Your cup will never be empty, for I will be your wine."

He pours some of the dark liquid into the chalice. Steve takes a deep breath, and smiles gently, raising the cup to his lips. Before he can take a sip, Bucky places his hand over the top of it. "Stop." He murmurs. "I can't do this."

Steve blinks, looking at Bucky. He's confused, of course - wasn't it Bucky who wanted this?

"Come here." Bucky murmurs, still looking over Bucky's shoulder. Steve half-turns and sees Peggy, hiding behind a pillar. She steps out, still in her wedding dress, and takes a step forward. "Steve?" She murmurs.

"I can't--" Bucky swallows thickly. "I can't take away someone else's chance to be happy." he says. "Someone took mine away, and I never forgave them."

Steve looks back to Bucky, his chest feeling tight. He reaches out to take his hand, grasping his fingers for a moment before Bucky moves, and puts his hand in Peggy's.

"I didn't get to have a life." Bucky murmurs. "That doesn't give me the right to take away someone else's."

Steve looks to Peggy, and she gave a soft, grateful looking smile. She leans against Steve, her head on his shoulder, and Steve smiles softly. "Thank you." He says to Bucky.

Bucky nods, and looks to the crowd. "Come on, guys--"

"Leaving so soon?"

The voice causes Bucky to stop in his tracks, and his eyes widen. Peggy gasps, standing up a little straighter. "Schmidt." She whispers. Bucky stares at him. "You."

Schmidt looks him up and down, and then snorts. "James Barnes. And here I thought I'd seen the last of you."

"You--" Bucky shakes his head a little. "You bastard, you--"

"As eloquent in life as you were in death." Schmidt snorts, beginning to walk down the aisle towards them.

Steve steps forward, before he can realise what he's doing. "Stay away from him."

"Or, what?" Schmidt smirks. He's a hell of a lot taller and a hell of a lot stronger than Steve, and he knows it. "You'll kill me?"

"Get out." Bucky snaps. "Get out!"

"Not without my dear wife." Schmidt coos, pushing past Steve to grab at Peggy, pulling her in against his side. "This one here's my ticket back to high society. Your money didn't last five minutes." He sneers at Bucky.

Peggy frowns. "Money?"

"Yes, deary. Your money. I'm sorry, did you think I wanted you for that pretty face? Your charming personality?" Schmidt snorts.

Peggy's eyebrows arch. "There is no money, Schmidt. My mother was marrying me to you for _your_  money."

The colour drains from Schmidt's face, and Steve's reflexes kick in just fast enough to catch Peggy as Schmidt throws her aside. "What!?"

"There's nothing here for you, Schmidt! Get out!" Bucky yells. Behind him, the congregation of the dead have gathered, each of them chomping at the bit to have a go at the man who hurt one of their friends. "Leave!"

"Without a toast?" Schmidt asks, picking up the chalice on the table. Erskine gives the congregation a look, and they recede. "There's always a toast at weddings. A toast to the poor, gullible idiot who was too stupid to see that all I wanted--" Schmidt downs the contents of the chalice, tossing it aside. "Were his riches. Who could ever love someone like you, hm?"

Bucky sways a little on his feet, and Steve reaches out to catch him as well, before he can fall over. The congregation push past them, watching as Schmidt turns to leave. He doesn't get very far. He chokes, and he falls, and when the crowd lift him up his skin is an icy blue. "Put me down!" He yells. "What have you done to me? Put me down!"

The dead carry him from the church, gleeful as they go. Steve doesn't want to know what they're going to do with him.

Steve looks at Peggy, who grins at him, throwing her arms around him. Steve laughs softly, hugging her tightly, before he remembers something. He looks up, pulling back from Peggy just a little. Bucky gives him a sad half-smile, and Steve swallows thickly as he steps forward.

"I said I would marry you, Bucky." He says slowly. "And I like to keep my word."

Bucky shakes his head. "I can't take away your life, Steve. Not when you have a chance of happiness."

They both look to Peggy, whose smile has faded now. She takes a shaky breath, and Steve looks back to Bucky. Bucky pulls the ring from his finger, and hands it to Steve. "Knowing he's gone is all I need, Steve. You've set me free."

Steve smiles a little, his eyes feeling wet. Bucky turns away, beginning to walk down the aisle, but Steve reaches out to grab his hand. "Wait." He says. Bucky looks at him, confused, but Steve simply smiles in return, a little less sad this time. "A goodbye kiss?"

Bucky gives a soft laugh, a tear falling onto his cheek. He leans down, and presses his lips gently to Steve's, a soft peck before he straightens up.

Peggy moves to stand beside Steve, leaning against his side as they watch Bucky walk out of the church and into the moonlight. As his foot hits the first step he disappears, dissolving into a rabble of black-winged butterflies, flying off into the night.


End file.
